Last week, campaigners lit up the British countryside with more than 5,000 fires of protest against what they see as threats to the rural way of life.

"It is significant that all the UK farming unions and landowner associations are working together for the first time in full co-operation with country sportsmen on making the beacons a highly symbolic gesture of solidarity," said Sam Butler of the Countryside Alliance.

The issues at the heart of the protest action include:

An anti-hunting bill, being steered through the Commons by Labour MP Mike Foster.

The government's house building plans - the construction of 4.4 million new homes on greenbelt sites by the year 2016.

The government's handling of the BSE/beef crisis.

The government's right-to-roam law - landowners forced to allow public access to most uncultivated land.

But, as campaigners made the full extent of their feelings known, the Government was also accused of backtracking.